My plannend setup for racing

[Ben]

Hello,
i planed a 3 projector setup, mounted over my "chair similar to a monocoque"

Bevor i spend a lot of money i would be very glad if you check my setup/ give my some expert advices!

screenangle: 180°
screen diameter: 4m (13.1 feet)
projector type: Optoma W305ST:

-resulotion: 800x1280
-throw ratio: 0.52:1
-( http://www.optoma.de/projectordetails.a ... &PC=W305ST )

i made a sketch with 15% overlapping and placed the projector pictures in the edges of my 66° screen angle
with the throw ratio 0.52.

is my design correct?

after working with nthusim, is the screen 800x3840 or 800x3456 ?
so regarding 4m diameter i get a total screensize 4/2*pi= 6,3m by 1,30m high.
or is it because the overlapping 6,3m by 1,45m ?

With witch tolerace (in projector mounting) can nthusim work with?

Is there a projector type more suitable for my needs?

thanks a lot!
Ben

drawing projector places

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total view

Leihnwand.PNG (81.18 KiB) Viewed 26855 times

[BHawthorne]

[Ben]

Hello,
thank you for feedback!

Your setup looks very nice.

I tried the projector calculator pro, but yet there is one question:

The "throw distance" changes from the edge to the middle of one projector screenn, compared to a flat screen.
Witch throw distace i have to use for my calculations, or is it a tolerance Nthusim can handle with?

[BHawthorne]

The distance that matters is an imaginary line that spans between the two edges of where the projection hits. It's a line that is floating in front of the screen arc. It's also the location of because how projection geometry works of the shortest projection height. The center of the projection will have more projection height because that is falling on the screen further back than the edges. You always have to think of measurements in the context of the shortest projection height areas of the projection to ensure you get full coverage.

The main priority it to just ensure you have full projection coverage of a screen area with as few pixels falling outside the screen height as possible. You'll always lose projection width because there is more there to use than is needed. Triple 16:9 and 16:10 projection can do around 225 degrees, but games only really handle camera FOV settings up to 180. After 120 it starts to have fisheye distortion, so you have to compromise a bit and fine tune it to what looks best to you. There are exceptions to that in FSX and DCS World, but that isn't the norm.

[Ben]

Ah ok.
My sketch with FOV 180 degree is not a dogma, my aim ist to make it as realistic as possible.

I also thought about 120 Degree with two 1080p projectors.
Because I never seen a installation like this I cant imagine what looks better.

So would you rather recommend that to me?
How important is the resulotion of the projector?
(800x1280 vs 1080x1920, is there a noticeable difference (13feet room width?))

If I choose 120 degree FOV, how important is it that the drivers head is in the center of the screen curve

I play rFactor 1/2

[BHawthorne]

A primary consideration between 120 degrees and 180 degrees is peripheral view. You can pan your head left and right with 180 degrees and have a sense of peripheral view, while 120 degrees is just forward facing view.

1080p will always be sharper than 800p. I use 800p projectors as a compromise based on price. It's not my ideal. I would rather use 1920x1080 or 1600x1200 native projectors. At issue is I can get two 800p short-throw projectors for the price of one 1080p short throw projector and 1600x1200 projectors aren't even in the consumer price range. If you can afford it, always go 1080p.

The edge blend being at the center of the field of view with dual-projector is a minor annoyance. You need to be very exact with your edge blending or you'll notice it. that being said I do dual-projector 180 degree on my screen. If you go dual-projector and Nvidia video cards you'll need to use a Zotac DisplayPort to Dual HDMI active adapter to achieve the span. With AMD video cards you'll be able to do it via Eyefinity 2x1.

[Ben]

OK. i have to think about 120 degrees and 180 degrees a while.

I made a second sketch with 120 degrees, 2 projectors BenQ W1080ST
(because you recommend that and because its not easy to find 1080p short throw projectors)

The problem now is that there are no space for two projectorsm if i calculate the
"imaginary line that spans between the two edges of where the projection hits" and the throw ratio (=0.7)

Can I use a vertical offset between both projectors?
In my mind it seems logic that my head have to be in the center of the arc/ the curved screen. But I saw pictures where its not.
How it is?

Grafics card: i choosed AMD, HD 7870 (up to eyefintiy 6 Monitors)

beamerskizze120_2.PNG (46.39 KiB) Viewed 26777 times

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[BHawthorne]

[Ben]

Ok thanks a lot!

I will think about 120 degrees with 2 projectors and 180 degrees with 2 or 3 projectors.

One question is remaining:
The position of the gamer: should the persons eyes in the center of the screen arc (sounds logic, in my opinion), or somewhere between center and screen (as I saw on pictures). Can I calculate this or is it trail and error?

[BHawthorne]